The other side of the mirror
by LightningWolfHowl
Summary: The new boy in class is very different from Adrien Agreste. Still sometimes, Marinette can't help but wonder just who he is. A one-shot based off of "Building from rubble" from Marinette's point of view.


**_Author's note: Following a request from Late Bloomers, I wrote this one-shot. I hope it's what you were looking for._**

**_/_**

Adrien is gone.

One day to the next he vanishes. At first, nobody knows what's going on. They can't reach him. The sad thing is, that given the restrictions placed on the poor boy's shoulders, none of them think much of it. He's probably just been grounded or something. Although the radio silence is a little worrying.

For one day during the summer, they just let it slide. After two, they're rather more worried. By the third, they actually meet together to discover just what's going on. At four, they're about to take a risk and launch a group assault on the mansion. Then they see the news and what had seemed like her world collapses. He's gone. Off to China and never returning. At least not any time soon, that's what the news says.

It's strange but it doesn't quite sink in. At least not immediately. There's a period of a few days where they just sort of drift around. She watches her phone constantly, expecting a message of some sort. None come.

Whilst the tears do come. She does her best to rationalize things. The chances were that Adrien hadn't ever loved her. They were friends, good friends but that was it. Still, his absence weighs heavily on her shoulders. She misses his smile, the innocence and kindness. Even as a friend, he leaves a space there that it's hard to imagine anyone will ever be able to fill. He was something to strive for, in terms of romance. At the very least, she'd dared to hope that he actually did like her. Even if that was all there was to it.

The days trickle by and she still misses him. Everyone does.

He hadn't even sent a goodbye.

Alya, the girl who knows her secret, tries to make things better. She's as confused about all of this as the rest of the class is but offers some comfort. Ironically, it's similar to what her parents tell her: there will be others. She contemplates turning back towards Luka but holds off. She doesn't want him to feel like a back-up, second choice, he deserves better than that.

For some, the shock gives way to anger.

Cat Noir is different too. After almost getting himself killed on one of his outings, it's like a switch was flicked. She doesn't know what happened to him but he's changed. He barely talks and never smiles. She misses his jokes. Any attempts Ladybug makes to try and get her partner to open up are met with hostility. He doesn't even try to flirt anymore. As a last ditch effort to get to the bottom of things, she goes to Master Fu. He knows who lies beneath the mask. The old man can offer little to no assistance. The change is very concerning. It's clear even before she mentions it that a lot is now weighing on the Guardian's mind. Finally, he confesses:

"I don't know what's going on. Cat Noir is different… Stay by his side, it's all either of us can do."

It's not what she wanted to hear but she nods and goes along with it anyway.

Summer goes by and by the time that the new school year starts, Adrien is both old news and no longer flavor of the month in some circles. Chloe, whom Marinette had assumed would be fuming, is instead shaken by the whole thing and seems to be genuinely hurt. They try not to bring him up all that often. Despite the two months that have passed, she is still heartbroken.

The arrival of the newcomer barely even registers. She's too busy fixing the empty seat which Adrien once occupied. Alya could move down, Marinette even suggests that she does so as to be next to her boyfriend but the girl refuses, reluctant to abandon her friend.

It's only the following day that some of the gossip finally reaches her ears. He's cute but what's with the attitude? Marinette actually watches him: dark hair, brown eyes and a look about him which says that he's angry with the world. The few attempts to extend the hand of friendship had been met with hostility and firmly rebuffed. It would seem that he doesn't care for them. The girl only needs to see a few examples to be assured that Dylan Lebrun, that's his name apparently, is not the type of person she wants to be mixing with.

On an interesting note, Akuma attacks only seem to register as a minor nuisance as far as he's concerned.

She tries her best to ignore him. Adrien's absence continues to hurt. It's only made worse by Lila's lie of the week claiming that she's still in contact with him. The two are in a long-distance relationship it would seem. Intuitively, Marinette knows that she's lying. If the others were to pay attention to some of her claims, they would be able to see that as well. Yet for some reason, it still hurts. Maybe it's just the thought that out there somewhere, the teen she'd spent so long will be chasing after others.

One day, he'll forget her. It's a painful realization.

Weeks pass. The new kid's attitude is only getting worse. Marinette's distaste for him only grows. It's like he's doing it deliberately, to make some sort of a point. If getting the entire class to turn their back on him is what he's going for, then he's succeeding. She avoids him as much as physically possible. It's best to ignore him. If he wants a fight, then there's no sense in providing him with the opportunity to do so. It seems hard to imagine that he's happy in his isolation but given that he seems to be going out of his way to push others away, she's inclined to believe that it suits him.

"Maybe he's just lonely." Tikki suggests one night as they discuss the matter. "Everyone needs someone."

"Then why's he pushing everyone away?!" Marinette folds her arms and shakes her head stubbornly. "No. He's just a thug."

"Marinette, you've got to try something. At this rate, he's going to get somebody else or himself akumatized!"

A chance to prevent an akuma? It's perhaps not to be sniffed at. Still, she's reluctant to approach such an unpleasant individual.

The girl stalls and two days later it's too late. Kim's the one who pays for it. Their class isn't always perfect, they argue and bicker and are sometimes mean to one another. None of them are saints. This is something new however. Marinette can't remember another instance of fists flying. Kim's a big lad but his assailant is clearly the more vicious of the two. He attacks after only the slightest provocation, flying off of the handle like some kind of attack dog. In all, the scuffle only lasts a few seconds before both are separated.

Later, people will talk about the madness behind the boy's eyes. It's the first thing that Marinette notices as well. Revolted by its ugliness, she's inclined to turn away. Before she can however, something else draws her attention. The attacker seems stunned. For a few moments, it's like he can't quite come to terms with what he's done. For a split second… It almost seems familiar to her.

The teacher tells her to escort him to the principle's office. A bold choice given the size and weight difference but it's not that far and Dylan seems to have calmed down. There's a considerable part of her which just wants to dump him with the nearest responsible adult and be done with it. Tikki's words from a few days ago come back to her however. She glances once more at the boy as he moves along, almost as if he's in a world of his own. Summoning some of the courage that she's more accustomed to calling upon as Ladybug, she decides to give it a go.

For a moment, it even seems like he's listening. For a moment… Then he's back to rage and shouts.

Oh well… She tried.

She's got other things to wonder about. If Dylan Lebrun is determined to run himself into the ground, then so be it. Maybe it will take a dark butterfly to change his outlook on the world…

Cat Noir almost gets her killed. She doesn't understand half of it. He just seems to be standing there, as if he's trying to hold a conversation with the Akuma. His behavior has been so erratic these past few days that his partner isn't even questioning it any longer. She pushes him to safety before he somehow managed to get himself blown up through inaction. Knocked unconscious, she doesn't know how they get out of it. They do though and all her partner can manage in order to explain himself is a couple of words before disappearing into the darkness. She limps home that night.

It's a terrible loneliness which weighs upon her. She has no one to turn to. Cat Noir had been her friend, her partner, someone that she felt she could always rely on. Now, he's… Well, she doesn't even know what's wrong with him. It's like he's a stranger. They had never been able to share their greatest secrets but she'd still felt close to him. Just how her partner had succeeded in making her miss his puns and attempts at flirting is beyond her but he's certainly done it. Something must have happened to cause such a sudden change. He won't tell her what. They can still work together, it's the only comfort she has but they're not the team they once were. How long will it be until they finally break away from one another?

She still checks her phone for news from Adrien. She checks his social media accounts. There's the odd post but nothing much. It's like he never even existed or rather, he never knew them. Maybe he really has forgotten about his old friends…

That hurts worse than any akuma.

Dylan Lebrun is shoved back into her life a few days later. He's called in sick apparently and there's an exam coming up. She's reminded that she's class representative. Nobody actually asks her to drop off the papers. She volunteers. It's the right thing to do and all that. She doesn't really know why she agrees to go. There's a voice in the back of her mind which silently encourages her to go. She hesitates when she sees the address, recognizing the distract as one of the less pleasant ones of the city. She has her miraculous though and it's still daylight so she takes the chance.

Seeing it in the flesh is a different experience altogether. It's a rundown dump in every sense of the term. Still, she pushes herself forwards, climbing the stairs of the building, ignoring the tags and littered floor.

Finally, she finds the door and knocks. It takes a while for someone to answer. She doesn't know what she was expecting. If she's honest with herself, it's the stereotypes which had come to mind. The mere stench of her surroundings (damp, dank and dirty) is enough to get the girl's nose to wrinkle. She forces herself not to let her disgust show when Dylan finally opens up. In truth, she's a little surprised and initially assumes that he must be skipping classes. He doesn't look sick. A few seconds later, another voice changes things.

Up until this point, she's never given much thought as to just who the boy's family is. If anything, she'd assumed them to be rather much like him. In her mind, she has all of the worst images of the angry and hateful household. What she finds is something decidedly different.

The boy's mother is a wisp of a woman, pallid and frail as she sits in the chair. It's clear that she's ill and that someone else has been taking care of her. That takes Marinette by surprise. She apologizes, instantly feeling a mixture of regret and sympathy. She soon discovers that the woman seems to be a good deal more patient than her young son. The rain causes the teen to linger longer than she otherwise might have. It's awkward. This is something that she would much rather not have witnessed, she feels as if she's intruding. She helps Dylan who for once, perhaps because of the presence of "_Man_" - a title she doesn't quite understand – seems to be more compliant and docile.

Then, whatever is wrong with the woman resurfaces.

The brute is gone. Instead, it's just one boy in the face of his sick mother. Marinette's grown up in an environment where her parents are always there for her. Sure, one of them might get a little poorly from time to time but they cope. As troubled as he seems, he also isn't panicking, which leads the girl to assume that this isn't entirely uncommon. To see a teen of her age having to look after their own parent who is stricken with something which is clearly more severe than just a bout of the flu, it strikes a certain cord which she can't explain. It's roles reversed in a way that suddenly seems to make her see things in an all new light.

The anger, whilst certainly misplaced isn't directed at his classmates per-say, so much as the world which had dealt him such a hand. Unable to get back at fate itself, he takes it out on everyone else. Not his mother though, there's a softness behind his eyes, a genuine concern for her.

In truth, she's rather grateful to get out of the place. There was something oppressing about it. It leaves her however feeling something for Dylan Lebrun that she would earlier have dismissed as impossible: sympathy. As they walk side-by-side, she can't help but ask a couple of questions. There seems to be such a parallel between how he behaves in school and what she just witnessed, that she struggles to get her head around it.

He actually answers, albeit begrudgingly. She doesn't push him any further about the matter. It confirms what she'd already assumed.

That night, the girl lies awake. There's so much on her mind that she can't find sleep. She doesn't know what to do. A part of her is inclined to think that she's already got enough on her plate: between the end of year exams and life as Ladybug (with an increasingly erratic partner) she can ill afford to have another distraction. Dylan will find his own way, maybe eventually he'll work out that the others aren't his enemies or maybe he won't and he'll be left alone…

She spends hours going over the matter in her head. Adrien resurfaces from time to time. She remembers what he was like on his first day. It's not exactly comparing like for like… Dylan is far louder, more aggressive and so very full of hate. Yet try as she might, she can't quite shake the way that he'd looked at his mother from her mind. There was a softness behind his eyes, that still seems to very familiar to her. Could it be that there's something inside of the boy that's actually worth saving? Even if there was… It's not like he's going to willingly accept her help. Any offers of kindness have been met with hostility and she can't very well force him to become a better person…

Can she?

As she lies there, the beginning of a plan begins to formulate in her mind. People have been patient with Dylan. Then some like Kim have been downright hostile, confronting him about his behavior but has anyone tried getting under his skin a different way? She can't fight him but she might be able to herself enough of a nuisance to convince him to play ball. She thinks about it some more and decides on her course of action. If things go south, then at least she can say that she tried. It's enough to let her fall asleep that night.

She puts her theory into practice the following morning. She refuses to back down in the face of the teen, treating him like she would any other bully. Instead of caving in and doing what he wants: leaving him alone. She stands her ground and he caves. He apologizes to Kim. It's more than she could have hoped for. It emboldens the teen and encourages her to continue.

Everything with Dylan is like pulling teeth.

He's mean and moody or at least seems that way. There's something about him which doesn't quite feel right. She can't place her finger on it. It would have been logical to assume that the more time that she spends with him, the more that she'll get to know him and the easier it will be for her to understand him. Part of that's true, she gradually becomes more familiar with his thought process. She understands what irritates him and therefore what to avoid. He seems to dislike others, no matter what they do or don't do to him. It's almost as if he's afraid of them for some reason… As the weeks trickle by however, she thinks, she hopes, that might slowly be changing. Then suddenly, he'll say or do something and it's like he's gone backwards, reverting to what he knows and trusts and pushing all others away.

She finds herself wondering _why_?

Marinette is fourteen years old and by no means a psychologist but she gets the feeling that there's something else under the surface. It's hard to say just what. He calls himself a word which the girl has never heard before: _brêle_. A _bum_ apparently… She guesses that someone else has called him that at some point and that he might actually believe it.

Her parents and friends caution her about him. The former do so gently and the latter (especially Alya) are a little more concerned and therefore forceful. Life isn't the same as in all the films where bad boys are somehow miraculously cured by a sweet and kind girl. He's already proved that he has it in him to be spiteful. They don't want to see her on the wrong side of another outburst. Contrary to what it might seem, Marinette does indeed take their advice to heart. Whilst to some, she might appear to be a bit brazen in her approach, she is treading carefully.

There is another side to him though. She slowly begins to see that. Despite his grades and some of the things that he says, he isn't an idiot. Somehow, whereas most of the class is fooled, he manages to see through Lila's lies. Maybe, if the girl only tells people what they want to hear, then he doesn't want to hear lies or doesn't need to hear them at any rate.

Time passes and at the very least, he seems to tolerate her presence, despite a strange incident at the school's fashion shoe. Helping Dylan Lebrun becomes less of a distraction or chore and more something which she actually enjoys.

He's still lukewarm about being around others. When they're alone together however, she takes the opportunity to get to know him slowly but surely. He is opening up, there's no denying it.

When he mentions his father, she gets the feeling that there's a tale there. His words and tone are harsh. She assumes, perhaps wrongly, that the man was abusive and doesn't push matters any further. Instead, she offers her support. He doesn't refuse it.

"What did I ever do to deserve you Dupain-Cheng?"

Those words confuse her. He offers no explanation.

They grow closer. She knows that she isn't imagining it as others begin to comment. Even Alya, far from Dylan's biggest fan, has to agree that he's changing. At the very least, he isn't as abrasive as he once was. Instead, he seems to tolerate her presence. In fact, he actively begins seeking it. He's still not overly fond of the others but spending time with him no longer requires her to ditch all of her other friends.

They open up to one another more and more. Part of it seems to be shared by a mutual dislike, not to say hatred, of Lila. She's not too sure how he knows that she's a liar when most of the class has fallen to her charms but she's grateful that he stands by her It gives them a common interest of sorts. Alya claims to have heard a rumor that Dylan had once picked a fight with the girl, or at least been very in her face about _something…_ All that Marinette can do is hope that he keeps his distance from her and doesn't give her a reason to get akumatized again.

Around the same time, she learns more about Cat Noir. He's calmed down again and whilst he remains markedly more restrained that he had initially been when they had first known each other, he isn't quite as grim as he'd become for a while. He's given her reason to wonder about his home life in the past. This time, he mostly confirms it. She'll be there for him, no matter what else happens.

She wants to know more about him. Sometimes he gives information willingly, others… Well, it's almost like he's hiding something. He starts to take an interest in her work and hobbies, willingly help her by modeling some of her creations. To her surprise, she finds that he does it well. Has he been watching videos or does he somehow instinctively know how to pose? She asks him and he seems awkward. He's that way increasingly around her. Maybe, it's closer to the real him. The more she sees, the more she becomes convinced that the anger is just a facade of some kind to shield something.

He is troubled but she's seen him be terribly kind. She goes round to the project from time to time. She quite likes his mother, Delphine, as she later learns. She seems to know just who she's raised and how to handle her son. Her health seems to be better. Although she has her off-days. Marinette only ever sees the one. The woman was fine, if a little pale, standing by the cooker and then she just started coughing. She ended up on her knees before her son escorted her to her room. A lie down is all that she needs apparently, a chance to rest.

Then one day, he surprises her and asks her to the end of year dance. She says "_yes_".

It's odd but even after all these months, she finds herself thinking that she'd always dreamed of going with Adrien. Instead, she finds herself accepting this lad whom she had initially hated. Adrien was perfect (at least in her mind). Dylan is so manifestly flawed he's almost the boy's opposite.

So why does she agree? It's a question that she asks herself later on, once they've gone their separate ways. Her parents are surprised, maybe even a little concerned. She assures them that he's different now, calmer and kind. Does she like him that way? It's hard for her to say. In all honesty, she prefers Luka. Maybe Dylan is a way out. When she's with him, she no longer thinks of Adrien, not even in order to compare the two of them. She forgets about the boy who has forgotten her. Maybe, it's time for her to look elsewhere, to get to know others. She doesn't dislike him but neither is she crazy for the young man. Ironically, it makes for a nice change.

She finds herself comfortable in his presence. They're somewhere between friends and dates. Dylan just seems to be content to have another to keep him company. He's a bit awkward but loosens up. At least until Adrien and Lila show up.

That hurts. It's as if all of the assumptions she'd been basing herself on had suddenly just crumbled away. About this one thing, Lila has been telling the truth. That's not even what hurts her the most. It's been a year. She's able to accept that Adrien is his own person and by definition can like or dislike whomever he pleases. It's the fact that he has never, not once thought to contact any of them. It's as if none of them ever mattered to him. He only has eyes for Lila. She doesn't even realize just how perfect he looks, she just realizes how he has let her down. She feels stupid standing there. Things flare up between the golden haired boy and her date for the evening. Given how he had once been, Dylan shows exceptional restraint. Was Gabriel's son always like this and she failed to notice or has he changed?

It doesn't seem to matter. There's a word in her ear, curtsy of her date. Suddenly, things begin to make some sort of sick sense. She excuses herself. An hour or so later, Cat Noir and Ladybug have yet another successfully defeated akuma to add to their list.

She dances with Dylan that night and has to admit that to her surprise, he's not that bad at it. Even if this relationship goes nowhere, she hopes that she'll still have a friend in the young man. He has his faults but deep down inside, she feels that there's a good soul.

The world comes crumbling down two a week later.

Everything happens so quickly. For the first time, she sees Dylan and his mother argue. The former goes storming off. Gabriel shows up. Fires his assistant (which has been coming for a while now). Predictably there's another akuma… This time however something is different. She finds herself faced with a man she's only ever seen in the flesh the once.

Hawk Moth goes after poor Delphine of all people. Marinette sees this from afar but has no time to question it. Dylan's there to protect her at any rate. He puts all of that aggression to good use and manages to keep the villain at bay. Despite how eager she is to save the boy, it's his mother whom Ladybug decides to rescue first. The sooner she's far away from the man who for some reason seems to be targeting her the better.

"Please! Save my son!" The woman pleas, her throat raspy having been choked as soon as she's dropped outside of the building.

"What does Hawk Moth want with you anyhow?" She can't help but ask.

"It's..." The woman hesitates, clearly unwilling to give away too much. "Personal. He'll kill Dylan."

It's all the incentive she needs to turn back and race to get him. He's injured, beaten and bloody and will most definitely have a tale to tell at the end of all of this. She can't worry about the stab wound and is forced to turn around to fight both Hawk Moth and the akuma. Cat Noir isn't here yet, so she's got no choice but to keep them busy and wait for back-up. Even then, they could do with some more miraculous holders when faced with such a challenge.

The roof collapses. Dylan is still inside. Despite her best efforts, she can't reach him and is forced to retreat to avoid being buried herself. When she does find him, he's still alive but trapped. She has to free him. She's not strong enough. Her bones and muscles scream at her, demanding that she stop this. Still she tries. He's being crushed and if nothing is done, he will be crushed. Then her miraculous are taken and she's powerless.

Her pleas go unanswered and Dylan Lebrun is left to die.

Those hours trapped in Hawk Moth's lair are some of the worst in her life. Try as she might, she can't shake the image of the teen trapped and desperate for assistance from her mind. She hides as much as she can in the shadows, tries to stay out of the villain's way. He's not interested in her though. It's clear that she's just bait. It is taking an awful long time for Cat Noir to arrive however. With every passing moment, she thinks back to Dylan, convincing herself that he'll be dead at this point. Her fears are eventually confirmed by her captor.

She cries. There are some things which she's been warned a Miraculous Ladybug cannot repair. Death is one such thing. Dylan had been foolishly brave, so very desperate to protect the mother he had spent so long caring for. She kicks herself and tells herself that there are a thousand things that she could have done to save him. There were dozens of mistakes. A few seconds lost here or there but they all add up. She should have pushed on, she should have pulled him out of there come what may. She could have used her Lucky Charm to create something that would have been useful to free him.

She received no sympathy from her captor. If anything, the news seems to have drawn out the worst in him. He ignores her for two days, only providing her with food and water. She takes it after she's threatened. She begs for at least her parents to be told that she's alive. Again, she's refused. She'll waste away there. Marinette knows Cat Noir well enough to know that if he could rescue her, he would come running. He's not the sort to formulate complicated plans…

No. She's alone. They've lost.

Something changes after her evening's meal. Her mind is slow and floating. Try as she might, she can't seem to focus on anything. The figure is back in the corner of the room, it approaches her. She doesn't even have it in her to resist as she's lead away, taking clumsy baby-steps along. She's brought to an elevator. She's moving and is in a different room. The hand is still on her shoulder, guiding her along. Periodically, she tries to pull herself together, aware that something isn't quite right. She fails however inevitably drifting back into the daze.

The person with her leaves her in a strange place for a while. She stands there swaying, rocking back and forth on her heels. There's someone there… Resting. Sleeping Beauty? An Angel?.. For the strangest moment, she actually thinks that it's Adrien Agreste…

She's bundled away a moment later. The stranger treats her gently. She's going to sleep for a while apparently… The prospect doesn't even scare her at this point. She does feel awfully tired. There's a sharp prick in her arm and the swimming sensation in her head gets worse. Everything fades to darkness.

When she wakes up. She panics. Her mind is both foggy and confused. She remembers things out of context. Hawk Moth… The ceiling had been collapsing (where was that?). She had to get somewhere, save someone. She trashes around. Desperate and lost. Someone else is there with her. They calm her down, give her a drink. She needs to rest, to recover. How is she still tired? None of it seems to matter.

She lies there, struggling to pull herself together. Whilst she is awake, her mind remains uncooperative. She fixes the woman who's with her, in silence. She knows her, she just can't quite remember where from. There's a tiredness behind the woman's eyes which is familiar to the girl. She seems to be so sad… Eventually, a name comes to her: Delphine, Delphine Lebrun. The woman brings back a lot of what had happened and then what she had lost.

She sees Dylan defeated and slowly dying. He's gone now. That takes a few moments to hit home. Even in her weakened state, tears threaten to come. Just as sorrow threatens to overwhelm her, she's assured that he's fine, he's alive.

That weight off of her allows her to rest. She's exhausted and despite the knowledge that she's been sleeping for quite some time already, all she wants to do is close her eyes and sleep. For a while, that's actually what she does. She just wants to forget about the world and rest.

There's noise and commotion.

Everything else happens so quickly. Marinette can't follow half of it. Hawk Moth's here and that woman, the one she's been calling "Delphine" is actually Nathalie? She's confused. Whoever she is, she tries to protect her and fails. The girl is weak but she tries to do something, anything in order to help the woman. The villain wants his son. Dylan? And he's going to kill her for him. Exhausted though she is, the girl is about ready to scream, anything to stop the man's blade from falling when Cat Noir arrives.

She doesn't recognize him. He fights with Hawk Moth but something is clearly wrong. Delphine/Nathalie senses it too. He's out of control. So the two women make a plan. Nathalie will distract whilst Marinette, whom everyone assumes to be too weak to move, will summon what little strength she has available and take the broach. It's all that they can do. Ironically, it would seem that the man's anger has calmed down by the time that Ladybug makes her move. He seems as shaken by all of this as the rest of them are.

Then one by one the masks fall. Gabriel and Adrien Agreste: father and son, Hawk Moth and Cat Noir, enemies. She can't quite seem to make sense of it. Her head is still slow and refuses to cooperate with her. As such, she can't quite react. She watches as they leave, unable to protest. Her friend abandons her once more. Only Nathalie lingers. Marinette is terribly weak and struggles to stand. She gets her earrings back. There's one last thing that needs to be done.

For the first time in over a month. The cry of "Miraculous Ladybug" echoes out over Paris.

Her parents are in tears when she staggers in. They'd assumed she was dead. She practically collapses. Their arms, hugs and kisses are just what she's been longing for. At some point, she losses consciousness giving in to her exhaustion. She wakes up in hospital. It takes her a week before she's allowed to leave. Her friends visit her and the Dupain-Chengs don't leave her side. No Adrien though… He's vanished again.

Lying in her bed, she has the opportunity to think. She knows little and so tries to make sense of what she's learned. The masks have fallen in her mind but she still doesn't know what to make of Dylan Lebrun. The drama between Gabriel, his son and assistant she can make sense of but Delphine/Nathalie's son confuses her. Where does he fit into all of this? She assumes, eventually from what was said that he must have been an illegitimate child or something similar. He did look a bit like Adrien now that she thought about it. Did he know about his other son? What the secretary had said that day at the Grand Palais seemed to suggest that he might but then he'd never given the impression that he didn't know or at least recognize the lad. Even his name hadn't rung a bell. So a child he hadn't been aware of?

She goes to the apartment where Nathalie and Dylan had been staying. They moved out a while ago apparently, with no warning what-so-ever. The Agreste mansion is empty.

The teen gives up all hope of seeing her friend again.

Then, one morning, she receives a message. It's from a number that she's never seen before: _Adrien needs you. _

Nathalie needs help apparently. She answers and they end up talking for a while. Adrien is safe but not quite right. She doesn't really explain much more than that. It's difficult to describe apparently. She fears that it would be difficult to convince her parents. Instead, they are only too willing to accept and drive her down the very next day.

The woman is different again. She's not the only one there. She runs to Dylan. Seeing him reminds her of everything that she thought she'd lost. It doesn't matter that he vanished. She forgets about Adrien for a few moments and then, the final mask falls. It seems so obvious looking at him now just who he is. The change of hair doesn't even seem to register. She doesn't know what to say or how to react. Why had he hidden himself all that time? For his own safety as well as that of his friends…

It takes a while for him to come home. Marinette sees quite quickly just what Nathalie had been referring to when she'd called him "different". There's something not quite right about him. He's broken. The mending process is going to be a slow one. She'll be there though… Even if he chooses to live the rest of his life down here, she'll always be there for her friend, no matter what he looks like.

"Marinette!"

Her attention is claimed by the young man sitting next to her. Green eyes fix her with some concern but mostly tenderness. She offers him a smile, just enough to let him know that she's okay and not to worry. A plate of food is placed down in front of her by a tall and slender woman. She seems more relaxed about the teen spacing out, instead giving her a knowing look.

"You were daydreaming again..." She informs her, sitting down for her own lunch.

"Just thinking about the past..." Marinette confesses, lowering her gaze for an instant before turning back towards her friends. "I'm back now though..."

There are better things to do than to dwell on what once was. The future is a whole lot brighter.


End file.
